Use of chemical weapons in Syria must be investigated, watchdog says

By Anthony Deutsch

AMSTERDAM – The head of the chemical weapons watchdog said Thursday that he will ask Syria’s new leaders to grant investigators access to the country to continue work to identify the perpetrators of attacks that have killed and injured thousands during the civil war.

Speaking at a special session of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, Fernando Arias said his office had seen positive signals from Syria about the need to rid the country of chemical weapons, but no formal request had been received.

The OPCW’s 41-member executive board met in The Hague to discuss next steps following the sudden overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, US Ambassador to the OPCW, Nicole Shampaine, said Washington sees the fall of Assad as a great chance to rid Syria of chemical weapons.

“We want to get the job done, and it’s really an opportunity for the new Syrian leadership to work with the international community, to work with the OPCW to get the job done once and for all,” Shampaine said.

Arias said the evolving political landscape in Syria offered the organization an opportunity to finally get clarification on the full extent and scope of Syria’s chemical weapons program after 11 years of inspections.

Warning of the risks of proliferation, he said “the victims deserve that the perpetrators we have identified be brought to justice” after their repeated use during the 13-year civil war.

He will request access for the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team. That unit and a joint UN-OPCW mechanism have already identified Syria’s armed forces as having used chemical weapons nine times between 2015 and 2017.

The perpetrators of many attacks remain unidentified.

DISORDER

Syria joined the OPCW in 2013 under an agreement between the US and Russia, and 1,300 metric tons of chemical weapons and precursors have been destroyed by the international community. But after more than a decade of inspections, Syria still has banned munitions.

Assad-led Syria and its military ally Russia have always denied using chemical weapons in the civil war.

With Syria still in disarray with countless armed groups around the country destroyed, the OPCW will be concerned to act quickly to prevent the use of any chemical weapons.

Echoing such concerns, Germany’s ambassador to the OPCW, Thomas Schieb, said: “Relevant warehouses and facilities must be identified, secured and opened for inspection by the OPCW.”

“We will judge the new Syrian authorities by their action. Now is the opportunity to finally and verifiably destroy the remnants of Assad’s chemical weapons program…”

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